[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: good morning. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill press all morning with you right here on your radio internet or current tv. we want to wish a very happy 70th birthday to vice president joe biden and today's going to be a great episode on the "bill press show." our guests will include muslim comedian dean obeidallah, think progress editor igor volsky. we'll be talking about the destructive conflict in israel and gaza and the heroic people trying to stop it. we'll be talking about hostess and how a greater gluttony of those who eat hostess is the gluttony of those who run the

company. we'll be talking about obama's asia trip, marco rubio flirting with creationism and when the indians first gave the pilgrims all that food on the first thanksgiving, it marked the dawn of socialism for undocumented immigrants. let's go to lisa ferguson for our current news update. >> thanks, john. president obama is on the last leg of his trip through southeast asia right now. he spent the day in cambodia where he met with both japanese prime minister noke sheet ta notah. both the east asia summit. obama spoke about the importance of strengthening the u.s./japanese alliance. when it comes to china as the two largest global economies both china and the united states have a responsibility to ensure sustained and balanced economic growth. this is the president's first trip abroad since his re-election. and he's been able to fill in some more details on shifting u.s. economic and security forces toward southeast asia and the pacific. but the visit is overshadowed by

other international issues in the spotlight. amongst the asia pacific community, that would be the battle over the south china sea which involves china cambodia and the philippines. while that's one of asia's biggest security issues right now, it's paling in comparison to what's going on in the middle east. fighting between israel and hamas continued again yesterday. the palestinian death toll is now up near 100 and many of those people are civilians. president obama and bill clinton both took to the phones yesterday, speaking with benjamin netanyahu of israel and president mohammed morsi of egypt. the main word they're using is de-escalate telling the two nations to scale back the violence but so far neither side is willing to cease-fire unless the other will bend to their demands. egypt does have a peace tree with israel which is why that country could be the key in putting a stop to the violence. more john fuglesang coming up after the break. stay with us.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." good morning. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill. i'll be with you for the next three hours. both today and tomorrow as we get ready for thanksgiving day and black friday. or as i call it, things giving. friday is the day when christians buy material possessions to celebrate the guy of the -- to celebrate the birthday of the guy who renounced owning things. 1-866-55-press. we want to know what you think about all of the issues going on

today. you picked the right day to be up at this ungodly hour. first, we want to know your thoughts on israel and gaza, specifically, what can the u.s. government do to help halt this destructive violent conflict and what should the u.s. government do to halt this destructive and violent conflict. the rest of the world is looking on thinking you know what? israel and palestine in i really think god jehovah if he wanted anybody dead, he would smite them himself. i think i speak for most of us when i say no matter what side you're on, it has become wearisome and the world is sick of this horrible, horrible suffering and carnage. i'm on the side of anybody of any faith who is trying to solve these problems in a nonviolent manner. good morning dan. it is good to have you here. >> good morning. >> john: i want to get to the fact that because of israel, we were minor superstars of the right wing hate machine yesterday. >> yes. you made it on news busters.

>> john: i made it on news busters many times. i talk about the bible a lot. i talk about jesus a lot and this upsets news busters because they like to use jesus as a club to hurt anyone trying to help the less fortunate. and so i've been attacked by them many times. we made comments yesterday -- i made some comments yesterday that prompted a wave of online hate from our friends who were very mad about losing the election. and losing five of the six popular votes in the last presidential elections and they're also mad that they've been proven wrong about everything. right now, before i can begin because i'm so glad to be here and spending this morning with bill's audience and the radio and tv, i think i need some "full court press." >> this is the "full court press." >> i want you to know that when dan's with his lady, that is the music he plays during foreplay. >> i play this -- the ticker tape right underneath. other headlines on this tuesday the winningest coach in college

football history is retiring and he's received special recognition for his career from the president. yesterday white house press secretary jay carney offered congratulations on john's 64 seasons coaching 60 of them at st. john's college in minnesota where he refused to allow tackling in practice and wouldn't let players practice if they didn't go to class. he did take his team to four national championships. >> john: this is a college football coach who wouldn't let his players -- does he know that college football players subsidize the university and can do whatever they want? >> he had a formula that worked. >> john: how quaint. >> he was very good at what he did. now that we're learning more about socialite jill kelley and her relationship with generals allen and petraeus, another one is being compared to her. you remember tariq salahi who crashed a white house state dinner. politico caught up with him. he said just like when the focus was on him and his then wife

when it should have been on white house security, the focus now is on jill kelley when it should be on the c.i.a. and army security brief in benghazi. he said people really love a real housewives of the pentagon headlines. >> john: tariq salahi has nothing to do with this case. he's done nothing news worthy and he's in the news. >> yeah. he's on expert on being in inappropriate places at inappropriate times. >> john: famous for no reason. i'm so relieved by that. >> he's running for governor. >> john: he was running for governor. i think we would have known if he won. >> no, virginia election is next year. >> john: oh. >> he's running in virginia. >> john: i didn't realize that >> against -- >> john: we had him on cnn a few months ago. it is really remarkable. this guy is the first guy ever to parlay an entire career out of crashing a party and having his wife leave him for a guy

from journey. hard to pull it off. >> it's wild. finally, the price of thanksgiving dinner is about the same as last year. according to the american farm bureau federation, you can apparently put dinner on the table for ten people for $49.48. that's for an 11-item menu including a 16 pound turkey, three sableds of sweet potatoes, cranberries and two pumpkin pies. >> john: $50 to feed a family of ten if you buy the cheapest at rate stuff. >> john: fortunately my 8-month-old doesn't know it is thanksgiving so it's pizza. >> really? >> john: i don't know. he could be grown and walking and talking by now. thank you very much, dan for the "full court press." i should explain how we got in trouble yesterday. we want to know your thoughts on israel and gaza. specifically, what do you think the u.s. government can and should do to stop this latest round of stupid, awful violence.

and i'm going to keep on saying it is stupid and awful because i guess i want news busters to be more mad at me. yesterday, we had a terrific show. joe sir cirincione was on. we were talking about what's going on in israel and gaza. he spent a lot of time in the middle east and palestine and israel. at one point i called hamas a terror organization. but i did say they were democratically elected. >> did you. >> john: that's all it takes for the right wing fringe to call. >> terrorist. i also want to point out that i said that the next ghandi has to come from israel or palestine. there's no violent solution to this conflict. it has to come from nonviolent means. i believe i used the word douche bag in describing hamas. >> that's allowed. >> john: you can feel very sorry for the people in palestine and think that hamas are total douche bags. i mentioned that hamas -- so

really slammed them all all over the place. and criticized the israeli government as well. because i think the overwhelming majority of christians and jews and muslims in the world are getting along fine right now. it is a powerful but small right wing fundamentalist fringe of the world's great religions that think it is dandy to solve violence -- to use violence to solve your problems. we'll point out if god or jehovah didn't like anyone, he would smite them himself. that's my superstitious way because i believe the religious talk. so after this, of course, news busters went crazy and ran a whole article about how proterrorism i was and prohamas. it was great as a result of being on the "bill press show" which does have one of the sexiest and most aware audiences in all of radio to have the exact opposite come at me all night. i'm proud i was able to drag this fine show's name into the news busters' gutter because calling news busters bottom feeders is insulting to carp.

i don't want to do that. has bill ever gotten in trouble with those guys? >> news busters? all the time. >> john: anything you say -- any time you say anything that's moral or intellectually decent. >> that web site there. is no credibility there. so i don't even check that web site. i read a lot of right wing stuff. and you know, yes i check the dredge report every day. >> john: i look at fox news. >> i even look at the daily caller. >> john: just so i can remind myself what sulfur smells like. >> he and tucker are good friends but news newsers not a site i check regularly. i only hear about it when we get e-mails from their right wing crazy -- >> john: they e-mail me all night. our friends did smear taunting insults toward you. you know you're doing something right morally when news busters

gets on your case. the greatest testament to what a bunch of tea bags they are would be the fact if you want to comment on the news busters article, you have to join the site. you have to sign up and that's why when you read it, it seems like wow everyone in the world so agrees with the right wing talking -- people who have lives, progressives or independents or anti--evil people or responsible conservatives, they'll join that because they don't feel like being on the mailing list. >> they don't feel like paying either. >> they ask about donations. donate $35 right now. >> john: they have smeared me so many times. it began with hillary rosen when she made the ann romney comments and i went on cnn and i'm like it is horrible what she said. then i saw the entire comments and i realized that the whole thing wasn't -- hillary rosen wasn't really smearing ann romney. she was talking about mitt romney's sad and pathetic attempts to suck up to women voters, it wasn't anything to do

with ann romney. so the next day i went on cnn. i defend the substance of what she said. what she said was completely accurate. all over news busters because i hated women. because i hated ann romney and people who suffer from ms because i was smearing ann romney. it is sort of like -- it is like crack and porn for the human id is what it is. gets crack and porn at the same time and the darkest part of your nature can run free thanks to news busters so i'm honored to be counted among those they scorn. and you're welcome to check out the article. but again don't because you might get sticky stuff on your fingers. today, robert kennedy jr. would have been 87 years old. today is also the 85th birthday of estelle parsons. you no he what she won the oscar for? bonnie and clyde. she was the laid did i they kidnapped. and she turned a very small role into a whole career. i saw her on broadway. i saw her not too long ago.

one of our great actors. don delillo author of libra turns 76 today. duane ahman his birthday. he died in '71. joe walsh of the eagles has a birthday today as opposed to the unwholesome joe walsh losing his congressional seat. john bolton, the american ambassador to the u.n. under george w. bush. really one of the great guys to play my favorite game called gay or republican. play that any time you see a white guy with a mustache. bo derek has a birthday today. born in 1956. mark gastineau was born on the same day of course. sean young you remember sean young? blade runner. >> oh. >> john: no way out. '80s icon shawn young has a birthday today. mike d. of the beastie boys turns 47. biggest birthday of all, vice president joe biden.

i love joe biden. i really do. i think -- i knew barack obama was going to become president when he got the nomination in 2008. everyone said oh, my god the first after man american -- african-american to -- he had a plan to pick a vice president that would guarantee zero assassination attempts and that's joe biden. barack obama comes throughout and says you want to kill me, here's what you get the crazy middle-aged white guy who is a crazy liberal and has plugs. i thank you joe biden. your true liberalism is keeping barack obama's life very safe. >> bfd. >> john: happy 70th birthday joe. you're still younger than paul mccartney, ringo starr neil young and bob dylan. we'll be taking your calls all morning. this is the "bill press show." this is nirvana. we'll be right back.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv.

>> announcer: heard around the >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning long. here on your radio your internet and your current tv. it is a big thrill to be back in the great man's chair. i love bill press. i love what he does and what he brings for democracy on our airwaves every day. i'm proud to be here to balance out his brilliance.

with we want to know your thoughts on what america's role should or could be in the destructive israel-palestine conflict. i do have a piece of breaking news. do we have any breaking news music. i'm turning you into stephanie miller's show. >> john: that's perfect. can you be there for me? >> i can do that. >> john: god bless. alan west has conceded. alan west, america's sweetheart has conceded defeat in his congressional race. he has just said that he will be leaving the congress. he has not conceded that his 1991 flattop makes him look like the right wing uncle but in the recount, he actually lost votes and did even worse so we wish him the best of luck and he now wants to go and try to torture innocent people in the private sector. so let's take your calls. bill is calling from my hometown, new york city up in the bronx. good morning bill, you're on the "bill press show."

>> caller: happy birthday to joe biden. >> john: happy 70th. >> caller: mr. fuglesang, there is a reason you're on current tv and was rejected by cnn. you can't get the job done. you're a total clown and a fool. >> john: don't hang up on this guy. >> caller: no, they want -- >> john: no, listen. they wanted to hang up on you and i wouldn't let them. do you have a specific point to make? >> caller: go ahead and hang up. >> john: do you have something to say? >> caller: why are you a mop-up boy for bill press. >> john: come on. >> caller: you dirt bag. >> john: bill, do you realize you're proving the right wing to be the bullying clowns, that the worst of liberals say you are? did he hang up? >> he hung up. >> john: you're a coward and you called me names. bill, i know you're still listening, i've faced tougher smarter and more verbal bullies

than you in school and thank you for proving everything right and by the way, i was never rejected by anyone. i turned down a couple of deals to come work for current because i like what they're doing so there. that's the first call of the day. >> wow. i was not expecting that. >> john: let's see. what did that lying coward say to get on the air? >> he called about the joe biden thing but then he was saying he was talking about israel and he said -- he sounded good. i'm normally an expert -- >> john: what did he say he was going to say about israel? >> he said that israel was being too heavy handed. i stopped him there. i was like okay, sounds good. make your point on the air just like i tell all of our awesome callers. >> john: this is how it works in troll land. you're driven by hate. that guy wasn't driven by any passion -- i would have let him say anything he wanted to say but wow. you called me names. thanks for showing us how manly you are. by the way that is what it is. it is unmanliness when you do

that and you're a cowardly little bee-och. i invite you to grow a penis. don't do that. that fuels your rage. you can make fun of my last name because that's what responsible conservatives do. derek is calling us from hartford connecticut. good morning derek. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: how are you? >> john: i'm great. >> caller: in regard to the palestinian israeli war over there, i blame most of the blame on the israelis. the u.s. is not an unbiased partner. always siding with the israelis no matter what they do. the eye risk, we put -- the irish, we put up with it in regards to the english. they blockade those people for the past five years. they can't even get medicine. what do they expect for the people to do?

>> john: what do you think the u.s. government's role could or should be to bring an end to this violence? >> caller: first thing the u.s., always saying go to the u.n., go to the u.n. with the palestinians, go to the u.n., they blocked them. they blocked them. >> john: it was in september of 2010 that barack obama went to the u.n. and argued against there recognizing palestine as a state. that has been the policy of the past administrations. it has to happen at some point. sooner rather than later. i would like to see this be the generation of israelis and palestinians who put this destructive violence behind us. taking your calls. bill, right wing tool, call back. it's the "bill press show."

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. filling in for bill -- what's my name? john -- bill from the bronx said. i love the smell of cowardly right-wing tools in the morning. happy 70th birthday joe biden. we're taking your calls all morning at 1-866-55-press. we are asking americans what the u.s. could or should do to help stop the violence in israel and gaza. but right now, i'm thrilled to welcome think progress's deputy editor igor volsky, not just because igor's brilliant or because i love think progress. it is so patriotic if you go to

their web site, the first thing you still see is donate to obama's re-election campaign in 2012. i hope that -- that's that.com, not.org. i hope it is doing a good job of raising money for the president's re-election. it is great to have you here. >> thank you. so happy to be here. >> john: thank you. i wanted to start off because think progress has done such great coverage on what's going on with hostess. of course, now hostess and the union are heading into mediation. a judge has ordered they try resolve their differences before 18,000 people lose their jobs in time for the holidays and before millions of glut onous americans have to go without chock codials are. >> i don't eat hostess. i don't -- i've never eaten them. >> john: you grew up in russia. >> grew up in russia. didn't have the hostess. came here. >> john: you eat only healthy food. >> that's right. other russian flavors hostess doesn't make.

so i've steered clear. and my understanding is nobody really -- i don't really understand, nobody still eats hostess as a practice of -- if we want baked goods we buy hostess. am i wrong? >> john: no one eats hostess caifntle. >> they do eat the coast es cakes but it is not seen as a delicious dessert. >> john: it is. twinkies have a shelf life of seven years because they have so many preservatives in them. i want to feed someone nothing but twinkies the last ten years of their life and see how long it takes their body to decompose when they die. between twinkies and ho hos which dick morris is a fan and chock codials, i don't know if they make those anymore but the cupcakes are still huge. hostess sells wonder bread so maybe you don't have kids -- >> don't have kids. >> john: children still love this crap. >> children's snack. anyone under the age of like 20

doesn't still eat wonder bread white bread. >> john: over the age of 20. this is america and yes. >> i've been here for awhile. >> john: igor, these are the hardened arteries we're talking about. >> powered by hostess. >> john: people love it. that's why we've noticed since the bankruptcy was announced we've seen such widespread ebay bidding. >> $50 $100. >> john: they even announced the ceos at hostess if it folded, they were going to sell off the recipes. that makes it draw the greed into focus. you can say it is glut onous to eat the sweetened baked treats. the gluttony is the real scandal here. >> i think that's right. you saw the first stories break they were going to fold. they immediately blamed it on the unions. that was the initial frame. you had to turn to social media to twitter, to some of the progressive blogs like think

progress to learn what was really going on. that the ceos tripled their pay. their executives were getting huge bonuses. just last year, going before this judge on monday, they were going to ask for some $1.9 million in bonuses as they were getting ready to lay off 18,000 people. i mean there's really this culture in wall street. this isn't an isolated case where a company may be underperforming. a company may be going under but the ceo the guys on top, get huge bonuses and do very, very well. >> john: my observation has been that social media is the unsung hero of this whole dispute. i think that folks on facebook and twitter who have been circulating graphics with the facts on them like the fact that the ceo tripled his salary to $2.5 million like the fact that they're giving out over $1.75 million in bonuses to their executives after their second time declaring bankruptcy. that they've already cut

salaries. they've cut pension benefits. they've done all of this and yet still, the guys running the company are looting it. they're harvesting as much profit as they can. bain bain capital can only imagine a fire sale like this. >> we learned through the campaign, through the story of bain capital that companies could be losing money filing for bankruptcy yet people like bain capital the consultants are getting paid out very, very high bonuses and there's something wrong in a system like that where the incentives are so backwards. >> john: where the companies themselves are harvested. that was the rap on governor romney, bain was never about creating jobs. whether it created jobs or lost jobs, it was always purely incidental to their overall goal of maximizing profit. if you think i'm wrong right-wingers come, beat me up at a kb toy and hobby store if you can find one. i've felt in this past week that whereas the corporate media by in large were reporting the party line that they had to go bankrupt because of high union

costs. i didn't hear that challenged anywhere until people on facebook and twitter began circulating the facts about the case. and the facts like i'm on law & order, began circulating the details behind this bankruptcy. in that sense, i found it really inspiring that it's been people using social media to get the corporate media to tell the whole story. >> we've seen that a lot with the power of social media certainly the campaign was powered by social media. a lot of the -- kind of the big moments, a lot of the gaffes were first reported on social media and made their way through into mainstream media. so i think it is a good development. it is a good development for democracy where you have a lot of people powering these stories and breaking away some of the narratives, some of the kind of conventional wisdom and the frames that these stories are treated with in the mainstream media. >> john: someone just tuning in is hearing us talk about twinkies are good for democracy. where do we stand now with this story? >> yesterday they went in front

of a judge. the judge ordered them into mediation. they agreed to mediation. this is the baker's union and hostess and the hostess company. they have today to figure things out and then if they don't on wednesday, they continue the liquidation. >> john: when i first heard that hostess was having to liquefy their assets, we'll have a drinkable twinkie smoothie. >> i would leave that to you. >> john: chug mightily. this is the sort of thing that would have been a huge campaign issue if it had come out two or three weeks ago. >> it would have been obama's fault, the union's fault. >> john: which leads us to papa john's pizza. we're seeing chain restaurants that turn huge profits where employees, you know, make a living. don't make a great living. where the ceos live in luxury. now saying that they're going to have to start laying people off or raising their prices rather than add an extra 14 cents per pizza to pay for healthcare. is this something we can expect

to see across the nation for the next year? >> it is really an amazing story. you're right. that's exactly the choice. you can either pay 14 cents more for a large pizza or 30 million americans have access to healthcare coverage. you can start bringing down the cost of insurance. >> john: the papa john's ceo can only have his moat cleaned every other week. he owns a moat around his castle at his mansion. we're talking about a moat who doesn't want to pay 11 currents more for a -- cents more for a pizza to cover the health insurance of the people who gave him that moat. >> let's be clear. there's something on the other side and that's healthcare for people. the provision -- this is interesting. the provision that requires employers that don't provide coverage to pay a penalty if their workers get subsidized insurance in the exchange. it is this free rider idea that they can't push off folks on to the taxpayer's dime. a conservative idea. it is if it is developed by

olympia snowe on the senate finance committee. she loved the idea. so there's that other layer that you have fox news, a lot of the conservative press. and media. make this entire case about the employer mandate and folks having to close their businesses and costs skyrocketing on the provision that was developed by a republican to try to win over her vote. >> john: and to be more responsible. to me, the whole irony of the affordable care act is that you've seen a complete role reversal in the parties in terms of what they believe in. you have the democrats adopting a republican policy developed by the rand corporation put into -- by the heritage foundation, i'm sorry made policy by the republican governor of massachusetts. governor fox news forgets his name. and the democrats are adopting the pull up your -- pull your accept up by your bootstraps strategy. republicans are saying let's let sick people go to the emergency

room and people will pick up the tab. >> it is what romney talked about. >> john: the worst stereotypes of liberals are what the republicans are advocating and the pull yourself up by the bootstraps are what the democrats are advocating. >> they know and the reason why you've seen this switch is because now it is an obama plan. it is a democratic plan. if this is in place they'll win and they'll have a big policy victory giving people healthcare. >> john: i want to talk to you about this. this is another great reason why under obamacare it encourages employers to hire people under 26 because they're covered under their parent's insurance. the "bill press show" taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back. [ piano plays ] troy polamalu's going deeper. ♪ ♪ and so is head & shoulders deep clean. [ male announcer ] with 7 benefits

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to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. very happy to welcome think progress deputy editor igor volsky. what we talked about at the end of the break was a couple of weeks ago we found out that mitt romney's son tagg, owned interest in the company that was making voting machines, i was saying to my right wing friends at the time, doesn't that make you upset that barack obama's nephew in chicago owns a large interest in the company that owns the company that's making the voting machines. oh that's horrible! did i say barack obama's nephew? i meant mitt romney's son. does that bother you? just watching the faces change was a beautiful experience.

>> yes. i can imagine. >> john: we're talking about all kinds of malfeasance in the country today. and i am glad to get some clarity on twinkies but i want to talk to you really quick about marco rubio. because i think we have our first confirmed presidential candidate for 2016. >> if the iowa trip wasn't enough. >> john: if the iowa trip wasn't enough. >> to celebrate the governor's birthday -- >> john: let's suck up to the fringe we don't agree with or respect. >> there's something wrong with your party when saying how old the earth is politically problematic. right? >> john: i could not agree more. senator rubio actually said and i'll go to think progress, the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. there's consensus on that. that's not up for debate. "gq" asked marco rubio america's sweetheart who i still think would have been a more effective running mate for governor romney than congressman ryan. how old do you think the earth

is? rubio says i'm not a scientist man. i can tell you what recorded history says. i can tell what you the bible says but that's a dispute amongst theologians. when the earth was created in seven days or -- it is one of the great mysteries. >> nobody knows. i don't know. >> john: not a mystery among scientists. >> i'm not a scientist man. i wonder if there is tape of that. i would like to see it. the irony is he's on the science committee in the senate. >> john: that's irony. i have another word for what that is. >> i don't know. maybe he can ask his colleagues in the majority, minority what they think. you have this guy who couldn't wait a week before running off to iowa to impress the folks there. he's giving these national interviews. trying to build the republican brand, talking about immigration reform and this nice economic framework. trying to position himself as a leader on the issue. so all the signs are there.

he's the first one to kind of step forward and the fact that you still have, in an election, after you kind of see the obama coalition come out and i think really a big victory for rational voters and a loss for the folks who support people like todd akin and richard mourdock, kind of the crazier right wing crowd bad year, bad election for the tea party it is troubling to see marco rubio one of the brightest prospects i think for republicans moving forward, to take this kind of position revert back to what i would say now is kind of an older style of voter who isn't going to be as prominent. that block isn't going as prominent going forward. >> john: i think that's an astute observation. two faction of the g.o.p. on the one hand, you're going to have whatever the tea party is turning into and you'll be

seeing marco rubio duking it out with rick santorum for supremacy in that realm. rand paul, perhaps. the tea party was found by the ron and rand paul real conservatives, the guys who were disgusted at how george w. bush spent money before it devolved into people blaming obama for what bush did. then you'll have the moderates. i think jeb bush will be the leader in. guy who will say i'm the electable moderate. we tried going to the right wing way. ronald reagan wouldn't fit in with them. chris christie of course will be a part of that camp. >> immigration is going to be a real good test case. you'll see this divide between that brand of moderate republicans saying that immigration is an economic issue. that we need to bring in people with the skills that america needs to power the economy and on the other side, folks like steve king and michele bachmann who use those emotional appeals of they'll take your jobs, they're from another country and so on and so forth.

how that plays out will be key to what the party becomes. >> john: you can't win the white house with less than 40% of the latino vote. the pragmatic republican response would be let's find a pathway to citizen. you have sean hannity saying this now. >> what a conversion. >> john: everyone in politics -- >> how convenient. >> john: in fairness, both sides historically have cared more about electability than ideology. >> true. but this is a party who when bush did it, when democrats tried to bring forward a dream act, wouldn't even let it come to a vote in the senate. i mean the fact that after election day, they finally realized that this is something we have to tackle. it is opportunistic but an opportunity to do real immigration reform. >> john: we can't mention that ronald reagan gave actual amnesty to people. >> they forget that part. >> john: igor, a pleasure to you have here. you can follow think progress deputy editor igor volsky on twitter at igor volsky. what a pleasure to have you.

thank you for all of the great work you do. >> thank you. >> john: we'll be right back taking your calls on israel at 1-866-55-press. the "bill press show." good morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

♪ >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." good morning. i'm john fuglesang. filling in for bill today and tomorrow. delighted to be here with you on thanksgiving week. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. also taking your tweets at bpshow or at john fuglesang on the twitter machine.

shea writes u.s. should be a mediator, not a protector of one side alone in the israeli-gaza conflict. north carolina hussein writes i love clowns like right-wing bill from the bronx. i'm glad you didn't let him hang up. that's true. back me up on this. i did not hang up on that guy. i let him stay on the air. but cowards do what cowards do. and victor says yea alan west has conceded. bye-bye crazy man. let's go to the phones right now. our question of the day is what could the u.s. do, what should the u.s. do to help stop this destructive violence in the middle east this week and stuart is calling us from seattle. good morning stuart. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: first i want to say i'm a jew that grew up believing that never again was -- was to apply. >> john: please go on. >> caller: i have a simple solution for the united states

to stop the violence, to stop paying for it with our billions of badly-needed tax dollars here. i will argue that those in power in israel want the rocket attacks to -- claiming they need our money for so-called defense. they have the technology to pin point the rocket launch sites the moment they're launched and strike those sites alone immediately. but they don't. >> john: you're right. i thank you so much for the call. i'm sorry we have to go to break. i would point out the leaders of hamas who like the violence as well. in both cases it solidifies the power of the right wing government. more of your calls coming up next on the "bill press show." but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit even the smallest things became difficult.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. we're live on current tv. today's the 20th of november. the 70th birthday of joe biden. today would have been robert f. kennedy's 87th birthday. today is oscar winning actress estelle parson's 85th birthday and also the 76th birthday of author don delillo. a good day for birthdays. duane ahman was born today and mike d of beastie boys. you're in good company. it is also the to birthday of john bolton, just to balance things out carmically.

coming up, we'll be talking with muslim comedian dean obeidallah. healthcare reporter jeff young and taking your calls on the arab-israeli conflict. right now, dan is counting down which means it is time to go to the hidden underground bunker to lisa ferguson and a current news update. >> good morning. we're getting word from "the associated press" this morning that an armed man has attacked the u.s. embassy in tel aviv. the man is an israeli citizen armed with a knife and an ax. luckily he did not get too far. he only lightly wounded a security guard before officers apprehended him. so far police have nothing to say about the man's motives but they do not think the attack has anything to do with politics or with the fighting between israel and gaza. secretary of state hillary clinton is on her way to israel today to work on negotiating a cease-fire between israel and hamas. up until now she's been travelling with the president on his trip through southeast asia. but she has been devoting much of her time to the middle east fighting and to speaking with

international leaders about that conflict. back here at home, the feds are pushing for long sentencing for three occupy members who plotted to blow up an ohio bridge. the fbi arrested douglas wright, baxter and stevens back in may. the three men are charged with trying to use explosives to take down a bridge outside cleveland as part of the mayday protests. the three pleaded guilty in september and federal prosecutors want to see them serve a combined 74 years in prison. something on the lighter side to round out the news. the first lady will get her official white house christmas tree on friday. this year's tree is a 19 foot tall frazier fir from ash county north carolina. the farm is home to the 2012 winners of the national christmas tree association grand champions. more john fuglesang coming up right after the break. stay with us.

[ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands?

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill pritz show. this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. what a pleasure it is to be back here with one of the smartest and sexiest audiences in the history of radio. even though congrats on the right wing tools -- you have a healthy supply of tools. >> we have the best. >> john: you missed right wing bill from the bronx calling in to make zero points but to make fun of my last name because i'm ethnic. >> where are you from? >> john: i'm from new york. >> your heritage. >> john: my heritage is -- i'm

irish, danish german which means i get drunk hide the jews and look for them. my last name fuglesang is an ancient navajo term means lactose intolerant. >> you're native-american. >> john: i'm part native-american, yes. or indigenous people. you know i think native-american is worse than indian. can i tell you? i really do. native american. really? white people? that's the honor? if they came down from outer space and they colonized earth and they put us in reservations and forced their religion on us and sold us blankets full of smallpox and raped our women and made us the bad guy then to make it right called us the native martians, that's sort of what native americans is. i know lots of indians who like to be called indian and many who like to be called native-american. i try say indigenous peoples but that sounds like a hip-hop

group. my name is danish. it means birdsong in denmark. it is common if you're in a copenhagen brothel. you can actually -- several different kinds of beer called fuglesang if you're in denmark. >> oh, all right. >> john: it is a fun name to go through public junior high school with. with a name like -- i was called feugill bugle favre ug nguyen, feugill standing, anything beginning with fu you can call me. when i was doing america's funniest videos, abc got upset because i was calling you the fu twins. can i read a letter from a right wing hater. this man's name is jay scheckter. he's an adult. who has access to a computer. his e-mail address is jay scheckter -- i'll hold up on that. shut the hell up. you're lying thieves who rigged the election by buying off votes and gift giving. >> of course.

>> john: that's great to know someone still believes in mitt romney. mitt romney, of course is the individual who said that obamacare is a tax. he said it was -- when his communications director called it a penalty, mitt romney said no it's's tax and its a free stuff. so it's gift giving is a tax. i see where that old guy press is afraid to show his face this week. three exclamation points. he's not afraid to show his face. he's on vacation. >> he's taking his paid vacation because he's a member of a union. >> big brain on dan. >> john: he's taking his paid vacation in europe. do yourselves a favor drop dead. so that we can get some good personalities like rush, sean and glenn. >> john: they're on the air. you can listen to them. >> this show should be permanently removed. that's jay scheckter. jay, you're really encouraged to call in at 1-866-55-press. i would love to have an adult

dialogue with you about the issues that matter most in your life. jay and bill are in bed together. >> john: you got them. all of these people who are never going to stop being mad that 30 years of trickle down haven't worked and they have a black guy to blame for it. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. our question of the day is what can america do to stop the horrible horrible violence going on in the middle east this week. and bradley is calling us from sacramento california. good morning bradley. are you with us? you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: yes, i'm here. >> john: welcome. thanks for holding. >> caller: that's okay. i would love to be talking about the economy, trickle down. >> john: it is your floor. >> caller: about israel, i think the problem is that israel feels so confident because america is always there to back them up with the full might and force of the american military. and i really think if we threatened or said we wouldn't be there for them if they keep

on bullying and killing really palestinian people, that maybe they would back off a bit. at least stop the killing. i'm not sure that would stop everything. >> john: you're the second caller in a row to say the u.s. should cut israel loose economically. don't you think that might have dire economic and political consequences? >> i don't think we would actually have to go through with it. if we told them okay, we're seriously going to cut them off and back away from supporting them militarily, they might stop acting so confident and feeling like they can blow up things and bulldoze power plants and things. >> john: we do know that the president has been putting pressure on the israeli government to avoid any kind of ground encouragement into gaza and has been open about that. the white house has taken a position they're opposed to any kind of ground troops going into gaza. i don't think israel would do that. i don't think they need to do

that. more and more, i'm thinking thinking this horrible violence like so much horrible violence is political. there is an election coming up in israel which netanyahu is going to win but it seems like, you know, this sort of thing -- at least the belief is that people think that bombing the crap out of whoever you tell people your enemy is going to help you politically. again, i got in trouble for saying this yesterday but i'm on the side of any muslim, christian or jew trying to solve the problems nonviolently. do you really think that america would ever be able to get israel to do what they want? >> well, i think it's kind of ridiculous -- if this is for political -- there are 111 people in gaza killed by the bombings. so if i think -- i don't think obama -- or any american president has gone as far as to say we're going to cut off support if you don't stop just murdering all of these people. >> john: no president has ever

said that, bradley. i don't know if any president ever would say that to our allies. we don't all the time. and again you know, at the same time, happen to have a president who takes a strong stand against violence from palestine. you know, i'm so sympathetic to the plight of the palestinians. i'm not sympathetic to people who use violence to solve their problems. it doesn't work. and i said it yesterday. i'll say it again. the next ghandi has got to come from either israel or palestine has to stand up with this violence with nonviolence and has to be able to use social media to wake people up because there is no military solution to this horrible, horrible tragedy. we have a call from palm springs, florida. >> caller: good morning. well, in my perfect world susan rice would be named c.i.a. director and bill clinton would be named secretary of state. >> bill clinton. >> caller: yes. and if he's not interested, i

nominate al gore. >> john: wow. >> caller: i feel like we need our a-team out there. and i think bill and al together could have a great adventure and -- >> bill and al's great adventure. >> caller: i feel susan rice's talents and background would so -- is desperately needed in the c.i.a. which has only been run by old white men. i think of course she would be well qualified as secretary of state. but i feel bill clinton and al gore are such tremendous assets that -- >> john: this is my favorite call of the day so far. i have to break it up. i'm not sure i'm with you as susan rice for c.i.a. i don't know what her law enforcement or espionage or counter terrorism credentials are. >> caller: well, being with the nsa, her background there. i mean how qualified was petraeus for c.i.a. head?

i'm thinking she is -- an international expert but also it would diffuse the whole issue of the nomination for secretary of state, you know, all of this flak that has been targeted toward her. >> john: do you share the belief of many progressives that conservatives are fighting so hard against the susan rice nomination to -- to the state department because they want the job to go to john kerry because they want to have another senate seat in play. dahl that may be just a slight -- >> caller: that may be just a slight little fringe benefit. i think this would be happening irrespective of that. i've been feeling this ever since the petraeus affair bubbled up, i've been feeling that this void in the c.i.a. now where they're talking there's no major candidate out there. i'm just thinking -- i just feel

there's something so dignified about her. that i think it would be -- it would shake up be the calcified community there. >> john: there is something dignified about condoleezza rice as well and she should have been kicked to the kush and lost her job in government forever. >> caller: know who al-qaeda was on september 11th and still ended up going to be -- from the nsa to the c.i.a. >> john: if anyone deserved to lose their job after 9-11, it was the head of the in, -- nsa who had a memo and disregarded it. you're not the first person to mention bill clinton in state. i love the idea of al gore as secretary. state although i'm part of the camp who would love to see al gore run for president in 2016. i hope that wouldn't get in the way of his doing that. >> it would bring him back into

the center stage. >> john: since i've had the pleasure of working with mr. gore, you know, aside from the fact that i work for him i've only worked with him and my dealings with him have been for the live broadcasts we've done. his brilliance is just astonishing. aside from sucking up to my boss which i'm proud to do, i would be thrilled to have the man al gore is today in the white house. i think that he's more focused and more brilliant and compassionate than ever and yeah, we would be well served by him in any level of government. i think he's earned it. al gore, after what happened to him, history will show he deserves anything good he gets. c.j. is calling us from oakland. one of my favorite cities in america. good morning c.j. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: i have very strong opinions so i'll try to keep them low. >> john: please do. >> caller: we're not -- honest brokers in the middle east. we should get over that feeling that we are. >> john: what state is an

honest broker? >> caller: i can tell you what we do but i can't give you -- i think the people know what's best -- that's happening over there. that we don't give voice to. but i have my resources john is my most recent one. alice walker. finkelstein. anyway, the point here i'm trying to make is that the c.i.a. has undermined a lot of -- c.i.a. has undermined a lot of democratically-elected governments. >> john: they're the reason we have all of this fun with iran. directly related to the c.i.a. >> caller: absolutely. israel is joined at the hip with its aggressions around the world. when the united states was barred from giving weapons to south africa, israel was happy to do that for us. there have always been armed dealers in places they shouldn't be. so when alice walker walked through gaza and how john pillinger described it as well

as alice walker and others is that it is like something out of the warsaw ghetto in that there's -- the structures are damaged. when people ran for cover in the u.n., the u.n. was blown up. the school. rachel cory died trying to protect the doctor's home and i saw the documentation on that. we are not honest brokers over there. we need to stop -- actually, that war in palestine against palestine and gaza, that's an american war. we test our weapons over there like we tested our weapons in vietnam. we made those bombs that only destroy the limbs and not kill the entire person. so it is the military operation that we're joined at the hips with israel and i voted for president obama the first time. i did not the second time. i'm african-american and a veteran. we need to stop our aggressions and we need to look at our policy of haiti. it is the same as in palestine. >> john: i'm sorry. we have to go to break. c.j. i'm sorry.

you had so many great points i want to address. i wish we had more time. i agree with you on haiti. it is a different area. having been there, i think that america's got a great responsibility to get much more involved in haiti. likewise, the last three administrations, i want to say have advocated for an independent palestinian state. they've done nothing about it. is an independent palestinian state that controls its own borders the solutions to this? we want to know your thoughts at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

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these talking points, that the right have, about the "heavy hand of government" ... i want to have that conversation. let's talk about it. really? you're going to lay people off because now the government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning and taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. that's 1-866-55-press. if you're just tuning in, alan west has conceded defeat for his re-election race to congress in florida. this is very embarrassing for congressman west. it would be more embarrassing if we ul tie lived in the -- if he actually lived in the district he represents. at least he doesn't have to run into anyone who voted against him. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. taking your tweets at john fuglesang on the twitter machine. my god dan you've got brilliant people who listen to the show. it is kind of disgusting. let's see what we have here. we have farrah willis writes enough politics bs. your boy won. thank you farrah for calling the first african-american president boy. that was classy. toya writes we should stop arming all mideastern countries. they seem to turn on us. and nc is becoming one of my

favorite tweeters, go figure, humans still believe that bombing the crap out of someone will make them want to agree with you. an stays sha jones writes let us not forget they're running for re-election in january. bill writes current tv has it over all of the other opinionated mainstream media outlets. word. >> word. >> john: right on. that's why i like current. you get to say stuff here you can't say elsewhere. so can you if you call us at 1-866-55-press. live from our nation's capital. steve -- i thought for a second it said steve perry but it is steve calling from perrysville indiana. i was going to ask how you felt about that filipino scab filling in for you on the road in journey. how are you? >> caller: just fine. the way i see it, the leaders are the ones that are always causing the trouble. and i think they ought to take them and put them in a room all

by themselves and say you know, the leaders the generals and all of the leaders just say you take care of it here because you're not going to kill off all of your people. doing stuff like that. >> john: jimmy carter sort of made that work. israel and egypt were mortal enemies. it was president carter who came to -- had them to come camp david and made them negotiate a peace agreement that has lasted for over 30 years although now it seems like it is in jeopardy now that the americans supported dictator is out of power. would you agree that's sort of what president clinton tried to do with arafat was to bring the leaders together and try to make them hash out something? >> sure. but you know, with these leaders, i don't see why all of

the people have to be getting killed off for their disagreements and stuff. and i think that the only way to do it and you know, everybody always says that jimmy carter wasn't that good a president. i think he was one of the best presidents we had. >> john: in many areas i agree with you. i think great men aren't always great leaders but he's a great man and has continued to be. and again, i have to agree with jimmy carter 100%. nonviolence is the only solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict. it will not come at the end of a gun barrel. we want to know your thoughts. 1-866-55-press. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning waiting for your calls. we'll be right back.

guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> phil collins. >> john: as a child i knew this song was stupid. of all -- layla of all of the songs. stones beatles leonard hanson, of all of the great songs you could play. oom-bop is a better song than this. it is a supremely crafted pop song. you don't have to recognize hanson that bop is dynamite. there are better phil collins songs to play.

>> i have more up my sleeve. >> john: you got that willie nelson thing i requested? willie nelson did a duet with snoop dogg called roll me up and smoke me when i die. >> i'll play it again later in the show. >> john: i hate to do this, dan. you've been very nice to me. the bill press fans have been so welcoming and warm including the right wing trolls. it is nice to be in their bubble but i have to report something that's really kind of tragic and really represents the end of freedom and liberty as we have come to know it. of course, i'm talking, friends and neighbors about what's going on in san francisco where the drug war began in that bastian of morality. san francisco may be getting ready to shed its image as a city where anything goes including clothing. from "the huffington post," city lawmakers are scheduled to vote tuesday on an ordinance that would prohibit nudity in most public places, a blanket ban

that represents an escalation of a two-year tiff between devoted group of men who strut their stuff through the gay district. that's not true. it is mostly straight people fighting for this. they're doing in the castro because they think it is a hip place to do it but it is heterosexuals fighting the most for the nudity policy. and a supervisor who represents the area. supervisor scott weiner's proposal -- yes scott weiner does not like nudity. i can't make fun of anybody's last name. >> of course not. >> john: fuglesang for huge apparatus. it would make it illegal for a person over the age of a to expose his or her genitals, perineum or anal region using any street, sidewalk or park plaza or while using public transit. the perineum? we can't even show that anymore or is it perineum? i tried to pronounce it as

perineum but it ain't. you cannot show your perineum if this measure passes in san francisco. >> phil, put your pants back on. >> john: this is d.c. in new york, where women are allowed to go topless in public parks. that's the case in asheville north carolina, as well, i believe. i think that women could still go topless legally in san francisco in public parks. but under this, any public street sidewalk, street median, park -- really san francisco we can't be neighbored in park lets anymore or while using public transit. if it wasn't for being able to expose yourself on public transit, i would have no social life. [ laughter ] but the first offense would carry a maximum penalty of $100 fine. what are we coming to when a guy can't take it out on the public transit. thanks, san francisco, you right wing tools. prosecutors would have a right to charge a third violation as a misdemeanor punishable by a $500

fine and a year in jail. exemptions would be made for participants at participated fairs and pa -- parades such as the gay pride parade. some conservative traditions will survive. you can still be naked it san francisco pride, just not on the average us for tuesday. we didn't want to tell you about this and make fun of scott weiner's name. >> i'm all for no public nudity on public transportation. i just think if you're going to sit buck-naked down on a public bus, that's a little dirty for your own hygiene. >> john: for sanitary reasons. for self-protection. i have to agree with lenny bruce. if you don't like the human body, take it up with the manufacturer. i have to go back 50 years for the best joke. i feel about public nudity the way i feel about polygamy. if you want to make an argument that you should be able to do this, i say go for it.

i'm not going to do it myself but i will support anyone's right to make that argument and fight for it. >> fair enough. >> what's wrong with naked people. although it is the liberals always say what's wrong with nudity and nudity is fine. that's how god made us. thin you go to like a beach and you see -- then you go to a beach and you see the least modest people, you see these big, huge naked guys who look like the letter q when they turn in profile. i guess in that level i can sympathize. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. really quick the hostess strike. it continues. judge has ordered hostess and the unions to go into mediation. of course, the unions are what the mainstream media has told us what is to blame. thanks to heroic americans we've learned a lot more about hostess in the past couple of days. i want to thank the good progressives and scwervetives because some conservatives are mad about this who point out while host says blaming the unions and they cut baker's pay the ceo tripled his own salary

to $2.5 million nonexecutives received 60% over 100 raises while filing their second bankruptcy. here is lou a hostess employee in new york state talking about the strike. >> we've been going through this for eight years now with first bankruptcy and pay cuts and so on. and pretty much, you know, every time you turn around, they were taken away from us. taken away from us. never making any changes to correct their problems. >> john: not actually a strike. maybe that's what they should have done at this point. here is lou moreesco talking about what it's been like for the past few years. >> i have mixed emotions about it. it was like i felt relieved i wasn't under the stress i've been under for the last eight years, constantly being told we're going out of business. we want more money from you. we want more money from you. >> john: hostess' debt, $180 million in accrued worker's compensation liabilities. $75 million debtor and

possession loan. $850 million of secured debt outstanding. $36 million in lease obligations and $50 to $60 million is outstanding to trade creditors. a lot of mismanagement. loaded down with a lot of debt. and now hostess brand has laid off workers and blamed the unions for their failures while giving themselves hefty promotions after the second bankruptcy. this is you won't moreesco, hostess employee. >> somebody is seeing the light as far as what the company has put us through and what -- what the outcome of this thing should be. >> john: on to the middle east, we're taking your calls all morning wanting to make sure what the u.s.'s role should be in this destructive conflict. a lot of people are saying what is the u.n. doing here? they want palestinian statehood. they want it, they don't want it. so secretary general moon has spoken out. i like moon. it seems to me you can only be

secretary general of the u.n. if you have a wicked cool name. >> three syllables. >> boutros boutros galley. kofi annan. i say javier perez was the coolest name of any u.n. secretary general in recent years. >> love the last name. >> john: however moon has called for a cease-fire. >> my message is clear. all sides must stop fight immediately. further escalating the situation will put the entire regime at risk. >> john: do we have more from moon? >> once again families and children are dying because of these senseless firings. once again palestinians and israelis live in the fear of the next strike. this must be stop. >> john: again palestine israel if jehovah or allah

wanted anybody dead, he would smite them himself. i say this because yesterday in the course of our interview with joe cirincione, i talked about how palestine -- how hamas is a terror organization. but they were democratically elected. this led to us getting iconic status in right wing troll news busters. if you're going to take out trolls, you go for the nest. they ran a whole thing about how pro terrorist i am because i pointed out two facts. one that hamas was democratically elected. two that they're a terrorist organization which makes me pro terror. i didn't know. >> you are pro terror. >> john: i'm so embarrassed i'm so pro terror. i've been spouting off. >> we're off the air in an hour and 15 minutes and you're going to terrorize everything. >> john: that's how i try to get policy changed because it has never worked and never will. that goes for armies as well as individuals. however, deputy national security director dean rhodes has been speaking this morning about the fact that the

president is now sending secretary of state hillary clinton to jerusalem and cairo. here's dean rhodes. >> secretary clinton will depart today and travel to jerusalem ramallah and cairo leaving. she will meet with our israeli partners to consult on the situation in gaza. >> john: that's ben rhodes. he actually discussed who secretary clinton will and will not be speaking with. >> i can assure you she will be meeting with the palestinian authority. united states has not engaged directly with hamas. hamas has not met the conditions we've set for many years to renounce terrorism to recognize israel's right to exist. >> john: by palestinian authority, i presume he meeds mahmoud abbas who it seems is completely powerless at all because abbas no habla no abbas. we'll be taking your calls when we return. it is "bill press show." 1-866-55-press.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

these talking points, that the right have, about the "heavy hand of government" ... i want to have that conversation. let's talk about it. really? you're going to lay people off because now the government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm

our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning and taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. and we're taking your tweets as well. of course, we just gave an extensive report on san francisco's attempt to ban public nudity and mcbiff writes your report on san francisco public nudity was tainted. i think i made that joke about

seven times and it is still funny. rnc prbs which is not reince priebus. how about that reince priebus. how about that michael steele who can be an rnc chair and lead them to incredible wins and then reince priebus can be the chair and lead them to incredible losses but the black guy loses the job and the white guy who failed completely and wasted everyone's money gets to keep the job? >> it is like the ceo of a company going bankrupt giving himself a raise. >> john: what are the odds of that ever happening. rusty cannon wrote we need to send ann romney to the middle east so she can tell them to just stop it, stop it! and one more. i would love to see gore run if for no other reason than climate change would have to be a core issue in 2016. i talked about this with cenk uygur of "the young turks" quite a bit. i would love to see al gore run for president in 2016. i would love to see it.

rnc prbs writes i love gore. we need new generations are new leaders. let me remind you al gore's ideas may not be new but they sure haven't been tried yet. the man that al gore is right now would be a great leader for this country. i think 2012 al gore would be a dynamite president in 2016 even better and i would be saying that even if he weren't my bus and i wasn't a desperate suck up. michael is calling us from san diego. good morning michael. you're on the "bill press show." welcome. >> caller: thanks for taking my call. >> john: what a pleasure. >> caller: i wanted to make a quick comment regarding the israeli, gaza -- the news busters articles wanted to back you up on that. >> john: please do. >> caller: in 2006, palestine territories held free and democratic elections. it is only when hamas is democratically-elected that the united states has a problem with that. >> john: yeah. >> caller: i think that sends a bad message about democracy. democracy in general.

the united states-sponsored side does not win we don't support democracy. it is ridiculous. >> john: sure. michael, you can agree it puts the state position in a difficult position if our policy is not to negotiate with terrorists, even though reagan did it in secret. doesn't that make it tough for a state department even if they're democratically elected to sit down at the negotiating table with people who have launched missiles at civilians. >> absolutely. it makes it really difficult. >> john: i'm sympathetic to all sides. i'm only on the sides of the palestinians who are trying to solve this nonviolently. i do think that yeah, i got in trouble with news busters because i said they were democratically elected. that makes me a terrorist sympathizer. >> caller: they were elected. >> john: i thank you for your allegiance to facts. they're inconvenient and yet they're there. ben is calling us from wayne mark california. welcome to the "bill press show" >> caller: thank you john. big fan of yours.

one of the most impressive thing you said once was whenever you're engaged in a discussion with someone who's opposed to what you're saying, you're really not going to affect them as much as you're going to affect people who are listening in. >> john: thank you, ben for bringing that up. that is great advice for everyone going home to thanksgiving and terrified about the angry write wing uncle or the angry left wing uncle. if you have someone difficult at the thanksgiving table if they want to fight politics with you you can win over everybody else at the table if you handle them with grace patience, humor and facts. >> right. the point i wanted to make, you talk about native americans you know sometimes they refer to themselves as first nations people. one of the first nations people, shenandoah, he said participating in change is much different from trying to impose it. and what i like -- what's just happened just today with hillary going to the middle east, to try to work with middle east entities, it's a shift i think

from what we've had in the past where now it is becoming evident that even countries like china and russia are saying look, israel, don't be being into palestine because you might not be having -- you might not have such a strong case to make to the world because the world is watching. >> john: i agree. i think that you know, israel by -- when i say israel, i mean the civilian leadership of israel, i think they're hurting israel long-term by not being the leaders in the peace process and again you know, hamas and even if it's not hamas if it's independent rebels launching the missiles, there is confusion out of who is launching them out of gaza, the people perpetuating violence on both sides are hurting their place in history. do you think hillary clinton is facing an uphill battle considering we don't necessarily have the same kind of pro democracy puppet dictator in egypt anymore? >> no. the whole thing comes down to -- and this is something i think that's phenomenal about the last

election cycle. the discussion -- i think the idea of what we're really seeing for the first time is recognizing personhood. recognizing people of persons. and my last quote was this from leonard, another native-american who is in prison. >> john: another guy who i don't expect obama to give him a pardon but i would love to see obama at least come out and say the man deserves a new trial. go on. >> caller: indeed. this is what's says. the injustice you allow against others will become injustice that comes against you. >> john: ben brilliant points all around. i thank you for the call. if you want to learn more about leonard, please rent the film incident at ogalla narrated by robert redford. how he went to jail for the killing of two agents he probably didn't kill. we'll be taking your calls when we come back at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

the saying easy as pie? i get it now. just unroll it fill, top, bake, and present. that must have taken you forever! it was really tough. [ female announcer ] pillsbury pie crust. let the making begin

[ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: is this spirit in the sky? >> it is. >> john: by the alan parsons project? >> norman greenbaum. >> john: my classic rock credentials are tainted like san francisco. i'm john fuglesang. i'm filling in for bill press. that's an inside joke if you've been listening for the last hour. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. i had the joy of living in santa monica, california for seven years and santa monica, of course is now at the heart of a

heated debate because efforts to force santa monica to reopen spaces in a park for christmas nativity scenes were denied by a federal judge. palisades park for years they've had a life-size nativity scene. pat robertson is losing his mind. >> well, it's -- well, christmas all over again. the grinch is trying to steal our holiday. atheists don't like our happiness. they want you to be miserable. they're miserable so they want you to be miserable. so they want to steal your holiday away from you. >> john: the separation of church and state is not an atheist point of view. lots of people of faith support it because separation of church and state is the conservative point of view. taking your calls when we come back on the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." brian, your cousin, he's a little bit older than you, he lives here, in chicago.

and your aunt lisa lives here, in baltimore. uncle earnie? waaay out in hawaii. but don't you worry, we will always be together for christmas. [ male announcer ] being together is the best part of the holidays and cheerios is happy to be part of the family. you just ate dallas!

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: good morning all you sexy independent free thinkers out there. this is the "bill press show." on current tv. i'm john fuglesang. i'm filling in for bill this morning. tomorrow as well. happy to be spending the beginning of thanksgiving week with you. tomorrow i'll be focusing quite a bit on black friday. as i call it, thingsgiving when christians decide to buy lots of material possessions to celebrate the birth of their hero who renounced material possessions. of course, we're talking about black friday which is keep capitalism in christmas day. also where the 1% tell the 99% to go out and save that economy they spent the last year wrecking. we'll be talking about this all

day today and tomorrow and remind you you're allowed to do small business saturday on black friday. but thanksgiving is something we can agree on. one thing i'm thankful for is the lumb nis brill brilliance of lisa nerg son. >> good morning. both democrats and republicans are confident that during fiscal cliff negotiations, their side will come out on top. that's impossible. one side's going to have to cave and both sides have their fair share of problems. for republicans, closing loopholes and reforming the tax code just will not raise enough revenue. according to the joint committee on taxation, even dumping the ten biggest loopholes will only pull in an extra $834 billion a year. yet that does sound like a lot of money but it will not even come close to making up the debt. democrats are not only facing republican opposition to raising taxes, they're also struggling within the party over entitlement benefits. progressives don't want any deep cuts to programs like medicare

and social security. but a new third way poll shows many americans do support slashing these programs in order to help with the deficit. and let's take a moment now to talk about the virginia senate race. we know timothy qain won out over -- tim kaine won out over george allen. the third place candidate is getting a lot of attention. he received more than 7,000 votes. his name is hank. here is a look at his campaign video. >> they tried. you tried. it is okay to make a change. it's okay to vote the humans out. it's okay to elect hank. hank for senate. hank is an accomplished independent leader. he fights for you. >> that's right. hank is a cat. his owner and campaign manager matthew o'leary says of course, yes, it all started out as a joke but he also hoped it would send a message that it might be time to reform politics when a cat can get 7,000 votes for senate. more john coming up. we'll be right back.

you're about to watch a viewer created ad message for little caesars who proudly salutes unites states veterans everywhere. >> hi, i'm rick loz. i joined the united states air force in 1987. as i was leaving the service i went into a civilian career for a little bit but i was looking for a little bit more than what the civilian career had to offer me and that's when learned about the little caesars veterans program. the little caesars veterans program helps the veterans transition to civilian life. they give them credits and discounts on the things that they are going to need to help open a new store. it was a program that they were just starting to kick off and i got the honor of being the very first veteran. i have three kids and boy, they were very happy to help out. i had one as a cashier, one worked a some of the other stations making pizza in the back. they really enjoyed owning a franchise.

one of the other great benefits about owning your own franchise is you can determine how big you want to make it. i started out with one store, i currently have four and i have the opportunity if i so desire to expand beyond that. one of the great things about being one of the first veterans program, i had the opportunity to talk to a lot of veterans. i know a couple of them personally and they now own a store or two so it's really been a great thing for me and i think that's it's been a great program for little caesars.

smiles make more smiles. when the chocolate is hershey's. life is delicious.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. thanks for joining us this morning on your radio your internet or current tv. we're taking your calls all morning at 1-866-55-press. wendy walker who is a fan of the show and is a very nice lady who's called in before, she writes to me on twitter russ fienne gold should be considered for director of the c.i.a. he is the only one who voted against the patriot act. i would do it just to watch fox news explode. thank you for the tweet wendy. we have comedian between

obeidallah joining us. first, how can i think about anything but the "full court press"? >> this is the "full court press." >> you always put me on such a pedestal. >> it is really just a theme song. >> other headlines making news -- >> john: i think of fighting crime. then i see you battling locusts. >> the communications director forboth the democratic and national committees are taking their election bet by taking razors to their head. since obama re-elected sean spicer was to shave his head but in solidarity, brad woodhouse of the dnc a frequent guest of ours here on the "bill press show" will shave his head. they're doing it to raise money for children's cancer patients. they'll shave they're heads this weekend on this week with george stephanopoulos. >> john: how is that going to raise money? >> brad woodhouse said you lost the election but hey if we can raise some money i'll shave my head too. >> john: how are they raising the money?

>> through a children's miracle network. >> john: they're going to shave their heads no matter what. so people donate? >> you pay to see them shave their heads. >> john: if they're doing it on abc, you don't need to pay. it will be on live tv. >> right but they may have set a donation threshold for brad also to shave his head because for brad woodhouse -- >> john: if it they get enough money but if they don't reach the limit, only the republican will shave his head. but they're both going to shave their heads. >> sean spicer is half balding. brad woodhouse, it is a big deal. he's got nice hair. >> it is a bigger deal for a guy who's balding to shave his head if he's trying to save what he's got. i'm not trying to defend a republican here. right is right. >> you're arguing -- >> john: i want to know how the money is being raised. how shaving your head creates money because if it did, i would be walking around like mr. clean. >> you can tweet at him. woodhouse b. you can ask him.

olympic gymnast mikayla talked about the photo of her and the president making that not impressed face that went viral over the weekend. >> john: you know what? good photo. very cute. >> she told nbc yesterday the president actually asked her if she could make the face and if she could take a picture together saying he makes that face at least once a day. >> john: i'm definitely sure he does. >> a new rumor has popped up that kate middleton wife to prince william is pregnant but this one has more weight than the previous one. "huffington post" says it is a childhood friend of duchess kate said she's expecting and will announce it soon. recent photos show, if you look closely, her shape has changed just a bit. so the u.k. all a twitter. >> so diana would be a grandmother. if that doesn't make you feel old, kids, i don't know what will. i like kate middleton. she makes it hard for me to despise the royal family. >> i'm fascinated by that stuff. >> you are? >> i see the fascination in the

royal family. >> die get that. in america if someone sits around takes taxpayer money to do nothing we despise them. in england they're royalty. i like william. he seems like a pretty cool guy. >> stand-up man. >> john: kate also, she wasn't a child of privilege. her parents have money but they weren't born wealthy. they became wealthy through hard work. she has a lot of working class roots which i think the royal family could use more of. >> i respect that the british respect that tradition of the royal family but they have their own parliament in place and that's who actually runs the joint. i'm good with that. >> john: any figure head monarchs in england especially if they're actually really german. did i say that? it's time to feel awkward. let's go to one of my favorite comedians. he's a regular on cnn.com where he writes some brilliant editorials. i've had the honor of performing on broadway with him on the off-broadway theatre laughing liberally which i hope comes

back in 2012 or '13 please welcome to the show, the one and the only, dean obeidallah. >> hey thanks, john. >> john: thank you dean. it is a pleasure to have you back. >> i'm glad to be back. how long are you guest hosting? forever? three months? >> john: three months i'll be here. no, just this week while bill is enjoying a much-deserved vacation. i'm happy because they serve really good food on the amtrak line. it is great for me to come on down here and hear about how my son is growing up. thank you for joining us, dean. you joined us last week when i was here. of course, i want to get your thoughts on israel, palestine. also i want to talk with you about hostess. so for starters, you have a terrific piece on cnn.com about hostess. i would like you to unpack that a bit for us. >> sure. it is about the idea of who really killed twinkies and you know, you have some people -- a lot of people speculating. people on the right and fox news were demonizing unions saying it was them. >> john: this is mainstream

media. everywhere in the mainstream media, print and tv but it is because of union costs that you can't get your tweets anymore. >> i've seen it in different places talked about -- could be the unions. there was a great article in media matters where they went through how fox news is continually the drumbeat of the unions. my article was -- what's the drumbeat that was unions. but my article was the other parent had the child with them in their car. the public criticism yesterday was fueled just weeks after the british government set up a program to teach parents how to raise young children. [ laughter ] >> happy father's day! >> bill: peter leaves his kids behind all the time. >> especially in bars. >> bill: he's hoping nobody would return them. >> sports history was made at the stanley cup finals. the los angeles kings are nhl champions for the first time in

their 45-year history. the kings games. >> bill: congratulations to

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." who is this again? >> alice in chains. >> john: okay. right decade, wrong band. john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. that is 1-866-55-press. we want to wish a very happy birthday to vice president joe biden who turns 70 years young this morning. which is pretty exciting. i would like to remind the vice president that at age 70, you're still younger than paul mccartney, ringo starr and bob dylan. this would have been the 87th birthday of robert kennedy. this is the 87th birthday of

estelle parsons. this would have been the birthday of duane auman. john bolton, of course, the american ambassador to the u.n. under president bush enjoys a birthday today if he enjoys anything. bo derek was born on this day in 1956 and mike d of the beastie boys was born on this date in 1965. happy beth day mike d age 47. we're taking your calls all morning at 1-866-55-press. talking about what's going on in israel and palestine and what if anything the u.s. could or should do to help with the violence and irwin is calling us from new york. good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you? >> john: great. what a pleasure to have you call in. >> caller: for years i've been watching this israeli palestinian problem and you know we need to treat them like we treat iran and we need to boycott israel until -- they have to stop.

>> john: do you think that will ever happen. that the u.s. government will boycott israel? >> caller: i don't think so. we give them so much foreign aid and so many weapons. you know that we call them an ally. i think they're a deterrent to peace. >> john: do you feel that about israel or -- >> caller: israel. >> john: are we speaking specifically about the civilian government of israel? >> caller: i'm talking about the government of israel. i know many jewish people who think the people -- the people running israel are mad. >> john: i do, too. i know many feel that way. >> caller: about a year ago, john, there was an ad for the israeli newspaper and the phrase they used in there was israeli ever know peace. i have to comment no. not as long as they have weapons because they're doing to palestine what hitler did to them. they're trying to eliminate them. >> john: well, you know, i wouldn't actually say they're doing exactly what hitler did.

while it may be fair to compare what's going on in palestine to the warsaw ghetto, we don't see them making death camps for muslims. i have to reject that part of the statement. you would agree that israel, for all of their misdeeds against the palestinian people are surrounded by armed arabs, many of whom want to see them wiped off the map. not all. i think plenty of muslims want to live peacefully with israel. the vast majority of christians, jews and muslims are getting along just fine. thank you for the call. we'll be taking more of your calls and coming up next, "huffington post" healthcare reporter jeff young is talking about which states have the most douche baggy governors trying to kill obamacare before it can help any citizens. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all week taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. and i'm really thrilled to welcome our next guest. jeffrey young is someone i read all the time. if you followed any part of what's going on with the battles over the affordable care act over the past year, you know his writing. he's "the huffington post" healthcare reporter. he has a terrific piece in the -- your most recent piece i think is charmingly titled scott walker, wisconsin governor rejects key healthcare reform. just because that's the kind of patriot he really is. it is a pleasure to welcome jeff young to the "bill press show."

>> thanks. good morning. >> john: good morning to you. for folks who are waking up who had their heads stuck with news about this horror in gaza and israel and the hostess union busting, what is going on with republican governors who are trying to find an all new way to kill the affordable care act before it can run the risk of helping people. >> to try to put this incredibly complicated thing as simply as possible, the way they wrote the law in congress, the democrats who put the law together, instead of setting up one big national pool for everyone to buy health insurance and who doesn't get it at work -- >> which would have brought us closer to capitalism. >> probably why it wasn't in the bill. instead of doing it that way they decided to make it so that every -- the 50 states and the district of columbia would each set up their own pool for those people. for individuals who don't get insurance, large companies and for small companies to purchase coverage for their workers. states already have a whole

bunch of regulations on insurance anyway so it would build on top of that. some states have strong consumer protection. some states have basically none. and then states also run the medicaid programs and since those all tie in together, you know, the positive justification for doing it this way is there's already some structures in place. >> john: right. >> the problem is as we've been seeing over the last week or so in particular that because the states have to actually take affirmative steps to carry this out, it gives them the power to refuse to do so. and the federal government has the authority under the affordable care act to step in and do it for them. >> john: what does that mean? >> it basically means the department of health and human services comes in and has to build an insurance regulation system on top of the state's insurance regulation system itself. >> john: working with the states or just creating and imposing it on the states? >> it is more the latter than the former but here's the problem. so first of all, if the states did it themselves, that's the way the law is written so that's

the optimal situation for carrying out that law. never mind whether people think it should have been a different law. this is the one we're working with. that's how it is supposed to function. that's the ideal situation. right now, it looks like only about 20 states including d.c. are going to actually do it that way. about another half-dozen or so are going to do what's called a partnership which is very vaguely defined but that means that they're going to help the federal government carry out this work, the feds will do most of it looks like but the states will, at a minimum cooperate and probably on top of that, depending on what state actually try to assist. >> john: assist the government in implementing the law. >> that's right. some of it is really technical. what this is really about is if you believe that the point of this law or maybe the main point of it anyway was to extend health insurance to a whole bunch of people who don't have it, a big part of that is going out and finding those people, explaining to them how to sign up. explaining to them that there's financial assistance available

for most of the people who are going to be signing up and then how to do it. and then setting up a web site. a bunch of call centers so when it is time to do that which will be october 1st of next year, people will know what they're doing and they won't be suspicious of it and it will be easy to use. >> john: this may seem crude and rudimentary to you but in the big picture we're doing this because inability to pay healthcare costs is the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country and doing the affordable care act will, according to the cbo, shave over $120 billion off our deficit. this is good business in the big picture. >> let's not forget that in addition to those two things you just mentioned there is a substantial body of research illustrating that when people have health insurance they remain healthier. right? >> john: yes. >> it seems so obvious that it shouldn't have to be pointed out. you hear a lot in the political debate about should we cover more people or what do we do about healthcare? no one goes without healthcare in this country. you can always go to the e.r.

it is true but that's not really the best way to get medical care. >> john: this is what governor romney was widely criticized for falling back on. i find it -- ironic is the word, jeff, we mentioned this in the first hour with igor volsky of think progress, if you were just waking from a coma for 20 years you would be in a world where the democrats have passed a healthcare bill that was devised by republicans in the heritage foundation, made law by a republican governor in massachusetts and essentially the democrats are now advocating the pull yourself up by your bootstraps method of be responsible, get your own damn healthcare and stop being a leach on the community. our republican friends are saying no, let's repeal the law and keep things as they are which means if you're not insured, you go to the hospital and the taxpayers pick upel the bill for you you freeloader. it seems like there is a complete ideology flip-flop that somehow happened over the last 20 years. >> it is a little strange when you put it that way right. at least in healthcare policy,ú it seems like there's been maybe a right ward shift all across

the spectrum. >> john: i think the policy in general of this country. it has gotten more to the right in every party. >> this ties into part of the earlier question that you asked. what about the rest of those states. the ones that don't do it or the ones that won't help. part of it is this tiny ideology split. we don't want to tax anybody ever at all. we certainly won't raise it above what they are right now. we don't want to pay for this and we don't want to cut spending elsewhere. i think on top of that, you know, a lot of these guys, you could think about scott walker or rick perry. i'm not going to list all 25 governors but you know, just to pick two off the top of my head that i think people -- >> john: are they all republicans? >> no. there's a couple of exceptions and i can talk about that in a minute if you want but it's so predominantly a republican versus obamacare issue that you

know, i don't think it is an unfair way to frame it. that's a big part of what's going on right now. i just think that these officials at the state level don't believe that the government should be doing any of this. and if that means it doesn't get fixed, it seems like they're okay with that. i mean not that there aren't ideas about health policy from the right. but you know, if you talk to you know, people in like you know, conservative think tanks republican members of congress, they won't even pretend that a priority for them is extending insurance coverage to all of the uninsured people. >> john: of course. where's the profit in that? >> yeah. all of these questions about you know the proper role of the government in business and you know, and maybe the notion that you know not everybody gets to win. that seems to be -- >> john: or survive to try to win. >> what we're seeing out in these states is a lot of these folks, some of it is because the republican party was so

adamantly anti-obamacare from day one, a lot of these guys painted themselves into a corner so now they're in a situation where the law is not going anywhere. obama has been re-elected. the odds of this thing being repealed are at least as we sit here today, pretty close to zero. >> john: you would think with the supreme court upholding it with the republican appointee justice roberts writing the majority opinion on saving this law, you would think some republicans are saying we're painted into a corner. we have to accept it. >> a few of them have but they're the exception at this point. you get somebody like a scott walker and politics in wisconsin are a little more complicated about this stuff than they are in say extensions a because there are -- texas because there are a lot of democrats in that state. i wonder if there might be a slim chance if he, for example might find some way to be okay with this. but you know, starting with the politics these guys have been against this thing all along and didn't really give themselves any room to get out of it.

there's large components of the republican base both inside the states and nationally that are in the same position and just hate, hate this law. so if you're a scott walker, what -- how do you turn around without just being called a flip-flopper. i think that's part of what we're seeing. then there is the ideological stuff i was describing before. there is a burning of logistical and budgetary reasons behind some of these things. it is a bunch of work they have to do. they would have to hire new people in the insurance office and new people in the medicaid office and the states are all still broke. and this is why you know, there has been a couple of democrats democrats who have said we're not sure we can do this. just for example the governor of west virginia. and john hickenlooper in colorado. both say to paraphrase them very simply we think this law is great. we're not totally sure we can pull it off right now. >> john: because saving american lives costs money. if it is one thing if we're

going to bomb the crap out of a third world nation. our tax dollars are great for war but when it comes to saving lives domestically, it gets pricy. >> it is easy for those folks. republicans and democrats to adopt that attitude because the feds will come in and do it. it may not work as well. there may be hiccups that wouldn't exist. we can talk about what some of those might be if you want the details. it won't not happen. it just might happen more -- with more difficulty and another thing is that all of these governors who were saying no right now no, we're not going to create these health insurance exchanges for people to buy coverage or no, we're not going to expand the medicaid program to very poor people, they can change their minds and do it later. >> john: i hear u2 playing, we have to go to break. jeff, will you stick around? >> you bet. >> john: we'll be taking your calls when we come back at 1-866-55-press. great song. this is u2. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> john: did you notice jeff right now fox news anchors are interviewing another fox news anchor. that's how they get fair and balanced. the conservative point of view and the right wing tool point of view. this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. filling in for bill in spite of popular demand. pleased to welcome "huffington

post" healthcare reporter jeff young. scott walker, wisconsin governor rejects key healthcare reform. we're going through all of the malfeasance that certain republican governors are now doing to do whatever they can to keep the affordable care act which has been upheld as a laugh the land by the republican supreme court from ever helping america because saving american lives only counts when you're blowing someone else elsewhere. can you explain to folks what is the controversy with the exchanges. >> it is a little hard to answer that question just because as we were talking about it earlier the idea of having a market place where a bunch of companies compete for your business doesn't seem that controversial. >> john: backbone of capitalism. >> this is why a lot of people describe the changes like a travelocity or expedia for health insurance right where you put in your information. this is how it will work. you'll plug in your age your zip code.

basic information like that. it spits out at you here's 25, 50 100 health insurance plans available in your area that you might want. you compare the benefits and it is all presented in a standard format. right. the notion is easy. >> john: good capitalism. >> that's the idea. the part of it that's not pure capitalism is there is a whole bunch of new regulations that go along with it like the ones that tell the insurance companies you can't kick you off your plan or all of these things that many people have been demanding for a long time. they're built into it. >> john: these are the things the critics are calling socialist. despite the fact there will be a lot of fraud cut out. but at the same time, jeff, it is 30 million new clients mandated by the government to buy a private product. the liberals call that fascism. >> yeah. the insurance industry has been a little funny all along. >> john: you don't say. >> because they know -- both of these things. they know that there's all of these new people coming in and they're not only bringing money

but a lot of the money they're bring is not their own. >> john: taxpayer dollars to help poor people. >> they also know the regulations will prevent them from doing certain things that allowed them to widen their profit margins on -- like per individual customer. >> john: by denying care to children with cancer. >> that's one way. just strange plan design. that thing. this is true of lots of kinds of insurance. i think that it hits home a little more closely once your health insurance as opposed to your car insurance. you're think you're covered because you bought a plan and you get a treatment. you find out afterwards we're not covering that either because we didn't cover it at all. you didn't read the fine print or we decided after you had that, that you didn't need it. so that sort of thing will become not impossible but much more difficult because this is their business of course. if they want to figure out some ways to get around rules, you know, companies are very good at that in general. and the insurance industry is

very diverse and very good at, you know, managing risk which often means not paying for things for risky people. >> john: the term, the healthcare exchanges refers to the ability to buy different plans even across state lines. >> yes. well no. all of the exchanges -- each state will have its own. >> john: sorry. i'm thinking about what rand paul wanted. >> yes. so there will be uniformity about a lot of the consumer protections. like things we were talking about. not being able to refuse people for pre-existing conditions. having to cover preventive services and screenings and birth control and things like that. some states that will be all you get. whatever the federal law says, that's the max because these are states like texas that don't want to do this at all. right? they don't want to regular late the insurance industry. they want to -- totally free market and good plans will win because those are the ones that people will buy.

>> john: people suffering -- too poor to afford insurance. >> that's how it often works in practice. there are other states that have laws that go even further than the federal law about what specific benefits have to be covered or you know, how much can you ask an older person to pay relative to a younger person. and the states that had stronger laws, most of those stronger laws will also still be in place which is again one of the reasons why they didn't do one big national pool because it would have squashed all of those old state laws, right? in many cases are protecting consumers beyond what the federal law actually calls for. but yeah, you know, all of this stuff can get -- you can get really bogged down on the technical part. i'll go back to what i said a minute ago to make sure it is clear to people. the idea behind this is to give you a one-stop shopping place for health insurance and to have a notion that there's some uniformity in what the products cover and some simplification of the way the benefits are described to you.

>> john: the hope is that the more people this begins to help the more americans will see this is a good thing and hopefully put pressure on their governors to not be total tea bags about it. >> over time. >> john: jeff young always a pleasure. thank you so much. follow jeff on "huffington post." thank you so much. >> thank you very much. have a good day. >> john: you too. happy thanksgiving. >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. this season, a good offense is the best defense and lysol has your family covered because that's our mission for health.

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(vo) always outspoken, now unleashed. joy behar. >> on my next show, comedian david steinberg joins me. after a hundred and forty times on the tonight show, i think he owes me a few visits. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ roll me up and smoke me when i die ♪ >> john: this is willie nelson's new album. mostly duets with his son

lucas. this is a song that got the most hype. it think is called roll me up and smoke me when i die. it is willie nelson singing with kris kristofferson and snoop dogg. if you keep playing you'll hear snoop dogg jump in. at the end of this verse. this is actually snoop dogg, not rapping. it is snoop dogg singing. you guys haven't heard this before, have you? >> no. ♪ all my friends tell them, there's a party come on by ♪ ♪ just roll me up and smoke me when i die ♪ >> snoop dogg singing. >> john: greatest song of all time. ♪ roll me up and smoke me when i die ♪ >> john: two-part harmony. ♪ anyone don't like it look them in the eye ♪ >> that's fascinating. i love it. >> john: get that for the country or rocker or hip-hop fan on your list. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill. this is great. when i fill in for stephanie, i get to play a lot of music. thank you for letting me inflict that. i want to thank jeff young from

"huffington post," the healthcare reporter for the breakdown on what's going on with the governors. very simple philosophy on healthcare in america. if you don't believe in the competition from the public option or cheaper canadian drugs, you ain't a capitalist. if you don't want to save american lives then you're not really a patriot and if you don't care about helping the sick, you're not really a christian, are you? we'll be taking your calls all day tomorrow. i'll be back tomorrow. i want to thank all of today's guests including think progress deputy editor igor volsky and dean obeidallah. didn't get a chance to make fun of marco rubio i'll get to make fun of him about creationism. it is making fun of something -- jesus being the outrageous lefty liberal. i'm john fuglesang. thank you for spending your morning with us. keep it tuned if you're watching current tv for stephanie miller.